The Queen: Complete
by Saint
Summary: Find out what happens when an author has a little too much fun with the darker side of the Scoobies. You've been waiting for the rest... Sorry for the delay...
1. Part One

The Queen, Ch. 1

For the fans who have been waiting for the rest of this story:

I started writing this story in December of this past year. At the time I started it, the ideas and the words were just flowing out as fast as I could type them and I was having a great time writing. It was a little darker than I usually write but the idea had been burning in my head and once I got going I enjoyed exploring the characters in a darker setting; they seemed to become a little more mine in the way they were developing. 

When I posted the second part of the story it was the day before I returned home for Christmas break, so my computer had to be taken apart and my writing had to take a little break for a while, but at the time, I thought, only a couple days. Before I had even settled in back at home, however, I got a call late the second evening I was home from a good friend from high school. One of our best friend's mother had been sick with cancer and that week she had taken a turn for the worse and was on life-support. That night they had decided was the time to pull the plug. 

I spent the entire night in the hospital with 6 or 7 of my closest friends waiting to hear the word that she had passed on. Finally sometime very early in the morning she went on to be with the Lord in heaven. When I turned on my computer a couple days later I just couldn't write anything. The darkness, the death, it all hit too close to home for me. I needed a break. Afterwards, 17 credit hours, a job, and coaching hockey took much of my time up so my creative endeavors had to take a break. Finally, I have the time, and the energy to write again and once again the ideas started flowing. So here it is…

Mrs. B. You made all our lives brighter. We miss you and we love you… can't wait to see you on the other side…

**Setting:**

This story takes place sometime in an alternate season 4, one in which the A.D.A.M. project was delayed and much of the craziness had not happened. Read on and enjoy!

The Queen

Part One 

The young man ran across the graveyard as fast as his government enhanced body would carry him. She was coming. She was after him. He knew that alone, without the aide of backup or the powerful weapons from the Initiative, he would not make it through the night alive. 

Agent Riley Finn leapt over the next headstone that was in his way and made the turn towards the gate and out into relative safety. He felt his blood burning with adrenaline and he could taste the sweat on his lips. He knew that if he could get back out to his car and then back to the safety of the Initiative that he could rest, but until then, his body would have to keep moving, or else stop moving forever. 

This was probably the first time since he was in training that Riley Finn had feared for his life. In those early days, he would square off against weakened demons to hone his fighting abilities and every time he walked into the training facility he was afraid that one of the little bastards they had captured, only to be killed, would get lucky and bury him before he could even begin his career protecting people. As his talent increased, and his training intensified, so did Riley's confidence and at this point, some 4 years into his work, nothing scared him anymore…

Nothing, that is, until the She came along. Once she arrived in Sunnydale, the place changed like he never thought possible with the Initiative there to defend. Suddenly the town was swamped with Vampires, hundreds of them, and people died and disappeared daily. Bright Sunnydale had gone from being an oddly creepy, yet quaint little town in Southern California, to being a quiet town by day and a ghost town after dark. 

Even the other demons there seemed to be afraid, like something more than the Initiative was after them. And yet, very few of them left and fewer families moved out of town. It was as if something had drawn them all there and held them there by some dark force. 

UC Sunnydale seemed to take the highest hit from it all too. College students left and right had disappeared or turned up dead in their rooms. The university had lost almost a third of it's students in the last year and nearly a quarter of it's staff. Sunnydale, whatever had happened since she came, was a city held captive by something dark and slowly and surely, the town seemed to be being sucked into Hell itself.

Finally making it to the gate of the cemetery, Riley breathed a sigh of relief. He could see his car from where he was. "Almost safe…" was all Riley could think before the thought was interrupted by a whooshing sound.

Instinctively he turned and lashed out in time to strike the vampire, who had leapt from the top of the stone fence, straight in the nose. Riley didn't stop to be amused that he struck the vamp so hard he had swung back and hit the ground with his head before the rest of his body. Four more vampires were closing in.

Pulling a mini-crossbow from his jacket and letting wooden darts fly, Riley was able to kill two of the four vampires and then continued his run for his car. If he could get there, he thought, he could be safe. 

Riley reached the door of his brand-new, black sedan but that was as far as he made it before the two vampires still alive caught up with him and pulled his away. Riley spun hard and broke free from the grip of the demi-demons and punched with all his strength at them, sending them reeling backwards onto the ground. 

Turning again towards his car, Riley found that three more vampires had advanced from down the street and were making their way towards him, blocking his escape. He turned to run down the other direction down the street and again his eyes met several vamps coming towards him. 

Knowing in his mind that he could stand and fight and in his heart that this would probably be the last time that he would ever get the chance to fight, Riley started throwing punches and kicks and wielding the few weapons he had with all his strength. It seemed, though, that each time he landed a blow, another vampire showed up to attack and grab a hold of him. 

Finally Riley was completely overcome by the vampires and was forced to his knees by the blows to his head and body. Quickly, several of his opponents grabbed his arms and chest and held him still. One vampire came close and grabbed his head, forcing Riley to look into his cold, dead eyes. 

"She wants you," was all the vampire said before striking Riley in the head, knocking him unconscious. Off in the distance, from the top of a building, a dark stranger watched the whole thing.

***

Xander made his way through downtown Sunnydale and out towards the residential area to Giles home where now he, Anya, Willow and Tara met for refuge during the nights. Very few places in Sunnydale were safe from the attacks of vampires and the other assorted demons that now ran the town but their group had managed to protect themselves quite well. 

He walked in the door, out of breathe, and was quickly greeted by the rest of the group. Anya wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close.

"Hi hunny," she said quietly. "I was scared for you." 

"I'm ok," Xander said more confidently than he expected to. "I've got the magicky stuff you needed Willow," he continued as he set the package he had been carrying down on Giles coffee table. 

Willow and Tara were sitting on the floor in front of an old book written in some language no one else in the room understood. Whatever it was, they were deeply into it because Willow hardly waved her hand in thanks.

Giles entered the room with coffee for Xander and himself. 

"Any trouble along the way?" Giles asked.

"No, I stayed to the building tops as much as I could while I was in town," Xander said after a brief sip of his coffee. "I saw some guy get killed though. It was weird."

"Weird?" Giles half-asked, half-repeated, confused.

"Yeah," Xander continued with Anya clinging to him even more after his last comment. "It took like 12 vampires to bring this guy down. He was strong, and a good fighter too. I think he was one of those military guys we've heard rumors about."

Giles was intrigued. They had been trying for months since the chaos had started to find out who these Initiative people were and exactly what they were up to. Unfortunately, their limited ability to move around in the night now made it hard to track the men they suspected.

"Who got to bite him?" Giles asked. "Was there a leader of some sort?" Eight months ago, Giles wouldn't have pushed Xander so quickly to give him details. At the time, he would have had a hard time getting it all out. The months of hiding, fighting and protecting however, had hardened the young man. "Shame," Giles thought to himself.

"Nobody really," Xander replied between deep gulps of the hot coffee. "I decided not to stick around after I saw them grab him and nail him in the head. Military-guy was out cold when I left."

Before Giles could get out a reply Willow grunted and slammed the book shut that she and Tara had been reading. 

"I can't find it!" Willow cried out in frustration. 

"We-we- we can f-find it if we keep looking," Tara tried to encourage her.

Willow and Tara had spent endless hours pouring over Giles collection of books, their magic books and everything else they could get a hold of that had anything to do with vampires. This was one of the few books that they had been able to get since Sunnydale had gone downhill. Still, nothing turned up to help them.

"Willow dear," Giles said in his soft, fatherly voice, "we will find whatever it is we need, be it a spell or some other form of answer. It will come. We just cannot give up." 

Somehow, everyone in the room agreed on the surface, but all of them, even Giles himself, had begun to give up hope in their hearts. It didn't seem like an end was near.

***

Faith woke up for the… damn, she couldn't remember how many days it had been now, but she woke up. She woke up in the same place she had for a very long time. She was underground somewhere, hanging from chains in the ceiling and stretched out by chains attached to her ankles and hung over a pit whose bottom she could not see. And yet another morning she prayed to whatever god she could think of to die. 

She couldn't die though. She was a Slayer. The vampires that held her kept her alive and somewhat healthy. She was fed with an IV so none of the vampires risked being staked. So while she stayed nourished, she was in a tortuous state of perpetual hunger. Also, while she was completely naked hanging there over the pit, they always managed to keep the room a temperature that she was "comfortable" in, as comfortable as you can be hanging from a ceiling for roughly eight months, almost ever since she awoke from her coma. 

"Funny," she thought this morning as she hung there, "Buffy was supposed to be my arch-foe, but she was never, ever cruel like this." 

Faith's thoughts then drifted to Buffy and what she was up to. Faith hadn't seen her since she woke up. She wondered what kind of demons the girl was killing off and having fun with while she hung here and rotted. Girl got all the fun. 

"I'll have to kill her for that after I get out of here," she whispered to herself and then chuckled. Like she was ever going to get out of here. That was the first time she had chuckled since she had been here though. Maybe that was a good sign. Maybe it was bad. Maybe it meant she was giving up hope. 

Faith didn't care anymore. She wanted to escape but after months of thinking and trying and failing, she was beginning to figure that it was impossible. The vamps wouldn't get near her, no matter how much she taunted and pleaded. She hung far enough away from the edge of the pit that even if she could get them to the very edge, and if she happened to be able to free her legs from the chains that held them in place, she still couldn't reach far enough to kill something. 

What was this? The millionth time she had thought about this? This was worthless. And again, this was probably the millionth time she thought that this was futile. She was trapped and nothing was going to save her. She had no friends on the outside since the mayor had died, and Buffy certainly wasn't going to come save her. That whore was the one that had put her in a coma and weakened her enough to let these little demonic bastards capture her. 

She had only been awake for a few days and was trying to get her bearings straight on everything that had happened while she was asleep. The mayor was dead. Buffy and her stupid worthless friends had killed him. Besides that, she noticed that there were even fewer people out at night in Sunnydale, like there was a rule against it or something, or at least an unspoken one.

While she was attempting to find out all the details on the mayor's death she ran into a vampire who said he had information. Assuming that she could stake the idiot later, Faith followed him and ran into a den full of vamps. She was fighting well but quickly a yellow haze filled the room and by the time Faith realized that it was gas, she was falling to the ground unconscious. 

The next thing she remembered was waking up here, in this living hell and not knowing what was going on. Days passed into weeks and weeks into months and not one of the vampires she ever saw walk by spoke to her, not even to taunt. They didn't even acknowledge her presence. It was like physical and psychological torture. 

Today seemed pretty much the same at first. The vamps came and went and did their business and ignored her, but over time Faith realized that there were more vampires around than usual. They were all hustling around like it was Christmas in Sunnydale mall and blood was on half-price at Hecht's or something. Seemed like something big was going on and since she had nothing special to do, Faith watched them all moving around, in and out of her little room and room nearby. 

The whispered conversations were hard to make out against the moving feet and the noise of the air moving up the pit and around her but she could catch little tiny tidbits.

"…she's pleased with this one…"

"…how long until we…"

"…so strong it took twelve of us…"

"…she tried ... …mouth will open if we…"

Nothing was making sense. Usually she didn't expect conversations to all flow together but the air about the vampires and the tone of their voices convinced her they were all having the same conversation in different stages. Something big _was going on. _

Suddenly there was a yell from down the hall. The two vampires that had just walked into her room turned and listened down the hall. Something was coming down the hallway there and causing a lot of chaos. 

There were footsteps around the corner and the two vampires there suddenly hit the ground, bowing as low as they could get their bodies. Faith squinted to see what was coming around the corner and then fainted when she saw it. It was more than her stretched and weakened body could handle.

***

Riley came too lying on a stone floor. His started to move to get up but realized how badly bruised his usually strong body was and let himself slide back to the floor. He could sense that there were many other bodies in the room with him and he really felt like he was being watched. At this point, still being alive, Riley decided not to be afraid and speak.

"Who's there?" he said in as a demanding voice as his swollen body could muster. 

There was laughter and grunts of approval but he got no reply.

"I said, who is there?" he repeated angry that he was so serious but being taken, apparently, so lightly. This time there was a response. 

"Stand him up," came a woman's soft, yet commanding voice. 

Riley felt hands of two of the vampires on his shoulders and under his armpits as he was lifted up and leaned against a wall. He tried to open his eyes but the light in the room was so bright that he had to shut them again. He reached up in pain and began to rub his eyes.

"I'm sorry they were so rough with you," came the woman's voice again. "They live to play," it said almost gleefully. The voice changed to a flattering tone, "You were just so strong."

Riley was still having a hard time getting his eyes to open and focus on the brightly candle-lit room. He could only make out the figures of the vampires in the room and that the voice of the woman came from a large golden chair, no, throne, in the center of them all. 

"They'll be kinder to you now that you're here," the woman continued sounding somewhat playful, "or at least they will soon."

Finally his vision came back to him and the room and the vampires and the woman were all clear… he knew that woman… She was in Maggie's psychology class… she was…

"Buffy…" Riley whispered softly.

Suddenly the woman on the throne, Buffy, got an angry look. 

"Ready to become immortal?"

***

So there's the first part of the story once again… Keep reading… It gets better, I hope.

~Saint


	2. Part Two

The Queen

The Queen

Part Two

Xander, Giles and Willow ran down through the tunnels as fast as they could move their feet, hoping against hope that they could get to Buffy in time. She was in the underground sewer and tunnel system that many of Sunnydale's vampires used for lairs and walking right into the middle of a trap. 

The day before Buffy had caught a vampire in the Magic Box stealing supplies and quickly had the demon subdued. They thought at the time that he must have been a young vampire, recently sired, simply because he was so easy to capture and they managed to get information out of him so easily. He was one of Spike's new gang and he said he needed the stuff for a ritual William the Bloody was planning on performing soon.

Usually, the Scoobies would have thought it was odd that Spike would have been into using magic to get by. He commonly just used the "maim and destroy" approach to getting what he wanted. Their skepticism died quickly though once Giles noticed one of the books the vampire had been carrying had a ritual that he had never seen. After they dusted the vampire, Giles took a look into the book and discovered that it held a ritual that could make a vampire free from it's usual restrictions, such as sunlight and wooden stakes for time. This meant that if Spike could pull it off, the spell could give him a brief period of invulnerability, long enough, though, to do some serious damage or maybe, to kill a slayer…

Buffy had set out the next night to patrol with promises that until Giles had fully examined the book, she would not go after Spike and take any risks. Apparently, she changed her mind once she was out on patrol. They didn't know why she had gone into the tunnels, maybe she was just chasing a vamp she spotted while on patrol, maybe she was hoping to take Spike out before he could finish the ritual, but for whatever, she went and now, she was deep inside the bowels of Sunnydale's sewers without the knowledge that the book and the spell were fake. 

Giles had been studying the book and somewhere along the line, realized that the ink on the book was very new, which made the "ancient ritual book" a very real fraud. When the three of them had gone out to inform Buffy, they only found her knapsack and jacket at the entrance to one of the crypts that lead into the underground tunnels. 

Running hard now, the three searched and screamed and yelled but to no avail, there were no replies. Each member was armed with crossbows and wore crosses of protection but somehow the weapons made them move only faster s they reminded the team of what kind or mortal danger Buffy was in. So they screamed and ran and screamed some more, hoping for the best, but fearing for the worst. 

Xander rounded a corner and finally saw something, but nothing that he ever wanted to see. It was Buffy, her arms broken and lying limp at her sides being sucked dry by Spike, who had some 8 or 9 vampires holding the unbroken parts of Buffy down so she couldn't fight the demons teeth away. 

"NOOOOOOOooooo!" Xander screamed and fired his crossbow without thinking before he did. He just wanted to save Buffy.

For the very first time in his life, Xander felt like he did something right and that the right thing he did meant something. The arrow that his crossbow released struck true, straight through the back of Spike and into his heart. William the Bloody was dust. 

Xander, still thinking only of Buffy, rushed at the vampires that held her with crossbows shooting and protective crosses as visible as possible. Seeing Spike, their leader, dusted, they all fled in fear of their attacker and disappeared into the tunnels. By this point, Giles and Willow had entered the small dank room and rushed to Buffy as Xander returned from running off her attackers. 

Giles was the first over Buffy and began to lift her up and test her pulse. He almost dropped her in disbelief, turning pale, and then grabbed her firm again and tested for a pulse again. After the second attempt, the Watchers tears began to flow freely for his daughter and he pulled her lifeless body in close to himself. Willow collapsed onto the ground sobbing. Xander fell to his knees next to Giles, this couldn't be happening…

In a cold sweat, Xander flew up from his bed; crying in his sleep had woken him up. He looked around at his bed and covers and Anya sleeping soundly beside him. He couldn't handle this anymore. Almost every night since she died he had dreamt about finding Buffy in the lustful embrace of Spike and then realizing she was dead. Every time the dream started he knew that he was dreaming, he knew that he could end the dream if he could force himself to wake up, but instead of waking up he kept watching, kept living the dream out, hoping that one time the ending would be different and they would find Buffy alive, Spike dust, and the last eight months only a dream. 

But the last eight months hadn't been a dream. They had been real. Buffy died. She rose as a vampire and now Sunnydale was her playground. She killed at will, without regard for the consequences. She ruled the vampires in Sunnydale like she was a centuries-old master. No demon crossed her, and most of the mortals that defied her, or even simply crossed her path, met a merciless death.

He remembered her funeral service. It was beautiful. Most of their high school graduating class came back from wherever they had been at college for it. Many of her new found college friends came and cried along with those who had known her for years. It was like the best thing in Sunnydale was gone. No, the best thing in Sunnydale was gone. 

It wasn't until Joyce turned up dead in her home, 2 weeks later, that they had any idea that Buffy had been raised a vampire. There was a note carved into the wall and smeared with Joyce's blood on the wall that read: "I have only begun Mommy." 

The Police immediately began searching for nut cases or serial killer types, but the recently disbanded Scoobies knew what was going on. They didn't want to know it; they didn't want to think it, but it was happening. Somehow, Spike had gotten Buffy to drink his blood while he was draining her. She had become the very thing she was born to destroy. Sunnydale was in dire straights. 

Frustrated and still upset, Xander got out of bed and headed down to the refrigerator. He needed something to calm his nerves so he could go back to sleep again. Finding some of the little milk that hadn't gone bad in the rotten frige, Xander sat down at the table. He was wearing nothing but his boxers, so the cold floor and the cold milk made him shiver in the dark of Giles kitchen. Somehow though, it was just right for him to sit and think. 

***

Faith woke again, still hanging from her chains, still naked and positioned above a pit, still being ignored by the vampires that walked past. She was disoriented. The last time she fell asleep wasn't a natural "I'm-tired-and-it's-sleepy-time" sleep, it was more of a… what kind of sleep was it?

Then it hit her. She remembered why she had fallen asleep. She hadn't fallen asleep. She had passed out, not only from exhaustion or pain from hanging from her wrists and arms for months, but because she was shocked. Buffy was a vampire. Buffy was behind this death, this living hell.

"I'll kill her!" Faith screamed at the few vampires that were within earshot. "I'm going to kill Buffy! Do you hear me? She's going to die!" 

For the first time in eight months someone looked at Faith. Whole the other vampires in the area turned and walked away, the one closest turned and looked the fallen Slayer right in the eyes. He even walked right to the edge of the pit and pointed at her.

"The Queen will not have your insolence!" the demon spoke harshly. "You will be dead soon Slayer. Don't fear that. Simply know that it is coming and the Queen will be the one who will end your worthless existence."

Faith hung there shocked. Besides the fact that she was being spoken to for the first time since a vampire eight months ago had said, "the information is in this room here," she was hearing the vamp call Buffy "The Queen." She was their leader? Maybe she should have figured that out, considering that a normal person becomes immensely strong once they are "vamped-out," she supposed a Slayer could become almost a goddess. That kinda sounded appealing, aside from the whole dying and being buried before she could rise stuff.

"_Buffy is going to die!" Faith screamed again at the vampire once she got her wits back. This time the vampire simply laughed and turned and walked away. "Do you hear me? __Buffy is going to die! I will kill her!" Faith called after the demon in vain. He was gone and again, she was alone._

***

Riley woke again, still in pain. He was sitting in the dark somewhere, chained to a slimy stone wall. His whole body ached from his first beating and the new lump on his head from his encounter with the Queen was throbbing. Why the heck did they have to knock him out again? Moving even a little-bit hurt his head and all his muscles and each time he did, the sharp breathe he took drew onto his tongue the dried blood on his lips and mouth, making this bitter experience only more wonderful.

Buffy… Her name was Buffy something… Buffy Summers. She sat in the eighth or ninth row in Maggie's psychology class. He remembered now. He admired her beauty, especially her smile. He remembered watching for her every Monday, Wednesday and Friday when the class was about to begin just so he could catch a glimpse of her talking and laughing. 

Then one day she didn't show up for class. Come to think of it, her little red headed friend didn't show up that day either. He found out only a week later when the red head, Willow something, returned to class, that Buffy had died. He didn't ask Willow about it, naturally, but he overheard some people outside the class that day discussing that she had died from some weird cult thing. 

It had been almost eight months now since that, and with all the fighting, the new vampires and demons, plus his heavy workload, he had almost completely forgotten about Buffy Summers. Funny that she could become the leader of such a large group of vampires so quickly. From his research before coming to Sunnydale, it usually took Vampires centuries before they can command numerous amounts of other vampires effectively. Buffy seemed to have done it over night. 

Gathering the strength he needed to lift his head, Riley looked up to see where, exactly, he was. It was cold and dark and only a few meters wide. All the walls were made of stone and covered in slime and the single door to the room seemed to be of some sort of heavy metal. The light from a tiny window in the door provided the only light into the room but after a while Riley's eyes began to adjust. He could see more details now; the bench on the wall across from him and the handle and lock on the door. 

Looking to his left Riley found something he definitely didn't expect. There was another man chained to the wall to his left, apparently asleep and very… dirty. He seemed to be about as big as Riley, maybe a little bigger and he had a shaved head. His clothes, all black, were torn and bloody and covered in the same slime that covered the walls. Obviously, this guy had been here a while.

"Hey buddy," Riley whispered, unafraid. "Hey, wake up." 

The man shifted where he sat a little and spoke in a deep, slow and deliberate voice. "I am not asleep, stranger. I am just sitting here, not exerting any strength. You would do the same if she has the same things planned for you as she does for me." 

"Look, my name is Special Agent Riley Finn and I…" Riley was interrupted by the sound on the man chuckling softly to himself. "What's so funny?"

"You think you're still alive," the stranger laughed as he spoke. "You may still be human, but you are not alive, not down here friend. Special Agent Really Thin doesn't exist anymore. You are simply her plaything now."

"Look, I'm still alive and well, buddy," Riley said annoyed, " and it's Finn, Riley Finn. If you'd look up for a bloody minute you'd see I not thin either."

"Looking up doesn't really help," the man answered as he slowly lifted his head, "when you have no eyes."

Riley turned away for a second at the sight of this man with his eyes gouged out, only deep sockets where they had been remaining. When he turned back to face the man, he was smiling in Riley's direction. His smile had only a few cracked teeth.

"I'm pretty disgusting now, aren't I?" he asked sounding amused. "If you could believe this, I used to be pretty attractive, at least that's what they said. I even had eyes. Once she got a hold of me though, she made everyday hurt, and now I look like this. Pretty gruesome, huh?"

"No, it's not that bad," Riley said trying to sound genuine. 

"I think I like you kid," the man said laughing at the obvious lie, "even if you're almost as blind as me." 

"How long have you been here?" Riley asked cautiously. "How long has this been going on?"

"I've been here for exactly two-hundred and thirteen days now," the man said turning serious, " and tortured every single one of them. I'm sorry you're here, stranger. This is a horrible place to exist. She makes every single day hell and then some. Forgive me for saying so but I hope she kills you quickly. It will be better that way."

"You sound like you've given up hope," Riley replied. "There has to be a way of escape, a way of beating her. We can get out of this."

"You should take the comedy act on the road kid," the man said in return. "The Queen doesn't make mistakes. She covers every base, misses absolutely nothing. She became a vampire because she made the first real mistake of her life without anyone to help her and now that she is one, she thinks of everything." 

Riley sat there bewildered. This Queen had quite a bit of power. Odd that such a beauty could become such a monster, and an intelligent monster at that. She did write good psyche papers now that he thought about it, but a monster, he never could have imagined. 

"Her name was Buf…" Riley started.

"Shhhhh…" the man interrupted. "Don't use that name if you value your health friend. She will make every torture worse if she hears that name and she'll make sure you do not die."

The man shifted his body a little so that his chest was facing towards Riley. "See the slash across the lower stomach area of the shirt?" Riley nodded. "The last time I used her name, she had me cut open across the lower belly. She personally played with my intestines and forced them back into me, then had me stitched up and kept alive."

Riley grimaced, almost feeling the pain of the man. She had become a monster. Vampires were monsters by nature but most didn't have this kind of power let alone the type of creativity for creating pain that she did. 

"How… ok, this is going to be a weird question but… how did she become "The Queen?" I mean, I remember her mortal. I saw her during the daytime just a few months ago. How did she become a master vampire in such a short period of time?"

The man, though eyeless, seemed to squint at this question. "Do you know what a Slayer is, stranger?"

"Is that some sort of weapon?" Riley asked not sure how this tied into his own question. 

"A Slayer is a girl… well, maybe I should start at the beginning," the man decided out loud. "Every generation, a Slayer is born, a young woman born with extraordinary powers of strength, agility, speed, and energy, among other things, whose sacred birth rite is to fight and destroy vampires and other demons and threats to humanity. They are as old as human memory and older and so all along, they have done battle with the likes of vampires and kept the earth safe. Had it not been for Slayers, this world would long ago have fallen to the dark forces that inhabit the depths of the planet."

"So Buf… I mean, the Queen, was a Slayer?" Riley asked. "Are you sure about that? I mean, sure she was beautiful and all, but she didn't look like any fighter I've ever seen."

"Trust me, she was the Slayer." The man continued. "For whatever reason, we'll never know now, she fell into the trap of a vampire known as Spike and became a vampire. For as long as mankind had kept records, this had never happened, but it happened here. Imagine this friend," he said, almost sounding excited, "a normal human becomes immensely stronger when they are reborn as vampires, correct?"

"Yeah," Riley said, catching on.

"So who knows what would happen to a reborn Slayer," he said making his point. "We know now. She is as ruthless as a Slayer is brave and even more powerful now. She commands legions of vampires and has set herself up as their Queen. She is more powerful than any vampire human kind has ever known."

Riley sat dumbfounded. He had been tracking this Queen ever since there had been rumors that she had arrived. He heard stories about her being enchanted, ancient or something beyond a normal vampire, but in reality she had simply been the girl he had a crush on in psyche class. How perfectly ridiculous. 

And this whole Slayer thing; how didn't the Initiative know about her? Why hadn't he been briefed about all this? He wasn't even sure if he believed it all. He was getting all this from some guy that was cut up, been here for God knows how long and apparently slowly going out of his mind. Maybe this guy was a nut or something, or planted here to make him believe an absurd story and give up on escape. 

"How do you know all this?" Riley finally decided to ask.

"Let's just say I've been around a very long time, stranger." The man said, leaving Riley unsatisfied.

"I said my name was Riley. Call me Riley," he said, giving up. "What's your name?"

"Hmmm," the man said shifting where he sat again. "That depends on who you ask. Here I have no name. I am dead, another plaything for the Queen. A long, long time ago, my name was Liam, but you can call me what most people called me until two-hundred and thirteen days ago. My name is Angel."

***

It was Saturday morning at Giles house. That meant that Xander had the day off of work at the rock quarry, Willow and Tara had off from school and Giles and Anya, well, they didn't do anything anyway. Saturdays also meant, ever since Buffy had died, research day. Time to dig into all the old dusty books and look for clues to beating Buffy, or at least staying a step ahead of her. 

In high school, Xander would have spasmed till he coughed up blood at the thought of spending good portions of his Saturdays reading through old texts. In recent times though, he had grown to almost enjoy it. It gave him a chance to stop swinging a pick at work, or running from vampires at night, or fighting with the others about various things. It was like, even if he found nothing, he could relax a little bit and escape from everything that usually went on around him. 

In the recent months, Xander had even learned an ancient language, well, at least partially, to help in the research mode. He knew that it definitely didn't fit his image, and considering that until Giles got a hold of him he could hardly read his assignments in English without getting a headache, it was quite an accomplishment. He had learned one of the ancient demonic languages that Giles had some books on but hadn't bothered or had time to learn, thus, making himself useful during research. Now he was able to cut down on translation time with certain texts, and while he wasn't fluent in the language or anything, he could make progress quickly through certain books. 

So there sat the group, each buried in different books. Giles was reading some of the most ancient Watcher's chronicles. Tara and Willow each had their own witchcraft books that they were deep into and in turn, Anya and Xander sat and read in demonic languages. 

"There is nothing about the Slayer in here except that Tal'Djini the Flesh-Eater thought that she was just a myth," Anya said of her book, while looking at the reference book that held the translations. "This research stuff really is worthless hunny. We should have powers like demons just to know these things. Then we wouldn't spend so many hours looking at these stuffy old books."

Xander looked at her and smiled patronizingly. Giles grunted, quite amused. Nobody in the room was really concerned with Anya's opinion of the research. All the team wanted was to find anything that had to do with the Slayer and any transformations or the like that they've been through over the years. Hopefully, sometime in the past, someone had written something that could help them, either to find a way to kill her, restore her or simply make the vampire known to them in the past as Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, powerless. Up till now, they'd had no luck. 

"Giles," Xander said, looking up from his book, "I know that no Slayer has ever become a vampire before, but have they ever transformed into anything else?"

"Honestly Xander," Giles said, looking up from his book and pushing his glasses up higher on his nose, "I really do not know. There have been so many Slayers along the way that have died young that I've got lots more research to do before I'll know what happened to them all."

Willow looked up at Tara. 

"I found a spell here that is protection against a Slayer," she said anti-climatically. "It doesn't specify on who it can be used and whether or not the Slayer has to be alive though." 

"W-well put that one d-down," Tara said reassuringly. "W-we can try it later an-and see if it works."

"It doesn't even say how long it lasts!" Willow exclaimed. "These old vampire sorcerers didn't keep very good records with their spells."

"Well, "kill and eat" never involved much of the record keeping, ya know?" Xander said, revealing a little of the old Xander. "As a matter of fact, I've never seen one of these guys ever stop after they've sucked someone dry to write down how they felt while they were doing it."

"I just mean, most sorcerers take better notes," Willow said, still upset about the poor quality of the spell. "What if it changes from person to person with how long it lasts, or what if it only works for vampires and demons, or what if it only worked on the Slayer that was alive at the time this vampire wrote this!" 

"Willow!" Giles jumped in before Willow could start another "what-if." "Just write the bloody thing down, ok?"

Without another word Willow began to write the spell down in their book of "maybes" for help with Buffy and her vampires. The rest of the crew jumped back into their books while a still distracted Anya got up to fix some midmorning coffee and doughnuts for them all. 

"Xander," Giles said, sounding shocked. "Come read this!"

***

Faith had spent the entire day angry, thinking about tearing Buffy's undead head off and watching her turn to dust. Everything in her wanted to get free now that she knew that Buffy was behind her months of torture. She had even started rocking and swinging her chains back and forth in frustration. She felt like a little kid that just couldn't sit still. 

After hours of new fire and new anger, Faith saw Buffy come around the corner again, dressed in black leather pants and boots and a skin-tight black top. This time see didn't faint, she got angrier. 

"You whore! You little b*! I'm gonna kill you!" Faith screamed in anger. Her whole body was twitching with desire to tear Buffy apart. 

Buffy looked up at Faith and smiled the warmest smile her cold body could muster. 

"Is that any way to talk to your sister?" Buffy said so happy she was almost mocking her. "We are sisters, you know, you and I."

"I am nothing to you whore," Faith yelled again, "except the one that's going to dust your worthless a*!"

"Oh, I'm terrified," Buffy said, this time really mocking her. "You are so scary, hanging there naked by your wrists."

Buffy walked the semi-circle around the pit that Faith hung over with confidence, looking Faith up and down with amusement. 

"I remember being weak like you," she said. "Afraid of death. Afraid of losing people, things, and emotions. Now look at me. I'm a goddess, a Queen."

"You are a worthless piece of sh* your stupid whore!" Faith spit back. "Buffy was worthless and weak. You are worthless and weak."

Frowning, Buffy turned around and looked Faith in the eyes. She stood like she was completely in control, like Faith stood after a fight, like the whole world was hers. 

"You will not be so insolent soon, sister," Buffy said, still frowning. "Soon you will be my plaything, my weapon. Soon Faith will be gone and something greater will live. That's all for now," she said as she turned to leave. "I'll see you later, sister."

"F* you!" Faith screamed after her as she left. "F* you, _Buffy! __Buffy Summers!"_

Left alone and angry again Faith went back to her swinging and thinking, waiting for her chance to strike back and turn her "sister" to dust. That was, of course, if she could find a way out of these chains.

***


	3. Part Three

And now what you've all been waiting for…

And now what you've all been waiting for…

The Queen

Part Three

The drive to the Sunnydale General Hospital was both cold and quiet for Xander and Giles. They both sat stunned, Giles driving, thinking about what they had discovered and what it might mean if Buf… if the Queen got what she wanted, or what they assumed she wanted. They had left the others behind at Giles house to prepare for the battle that they both knew very well might be the end for them, for Sunnydale, and quite likely the world.

Giles parked the car in the handicapped place next to the door and without speaking to one another the two ran in through the sliding glass doors and straight to the check in desk. 

"I need to see a patient here," Giles said hurriedly, "a coma patient."

The butch overweight woman in the nurse's outfit behind the desk looked unamused. "Do you realize that it's two thirty in the morning?"

"Look lady," Xander started, a bit miffed that she wasn't complying. "We have to find this woman. It is a matter of…"

"Life or death," the nurse finished. "Save it. I'm here to keep nuts like you out of this hospital at night."

Xander's temper flared in frustration and without another word he leapt over the counter and started pushing the woman out of the way. She wouldn't understand and they didn't have time to explain to her that if they couldn't find this coma patient, the world could very well end before tomorrow night at midnight. 

"Security!" the woman yelled at she hit the floor behind the desk. "Help! Help!"

By this time Giles had made his way around the corner and behind the desk too. He grabbed the nurse and covered her mouth with his arm, forcing the inside of the elbow into her mouth to quiet her. Xander was already furiously trying to find Faith's name in the computer but to no avail. After a minute or two he turned around and looked down at the woman with a fire not even Giles had seen in his eyes before. 

"Listen to me lady," Xander started, sounding more like the demons that he fought on a consistent basis than anything resembling human. He could feel a new desperation in his heart, aching in his head. It was the desperation of knowing the entire world rested on your shoulders. Something Xander guessed Buffy had felt everyday of her life. How did she stay sane? 

"We have the power to kill you right now. We also have the chance to save the lives of millions and which one I decide to do depends on how you answer this next question," he continued angrily. 

Giles felt the nurse start to cry, her tears wetting his arm and her large body convulsing with sobs. Xander was scaring _him_ a little here. Hopefully these theatrics would help them. Otherwise they'd be back at square one. 

"There was a young woman here, a coma patient," Xander continued, eyes still burning. "She was young, around 20; had brown hair; thin; athletic; and her body was guarded 24 hours a day by two armed police officers. Do you remember her?"

Beneath the near strangling embrace of Giles the nurse's head nodded as best it could, tears still streaming in fear of the man standing over her.

"Good." Xander said. "Where is she? Did they transfer her somewhere else or is she still around here somewhere?"

Giles released the nurse as she started speaking. 

"S-s-s-she's gone…" the nurse stuttered out.

"Where?" Xander almost screamed. "Where is she now?"

"I, I don't know…" the nurse stuttered again. "One day she was just gone, the guards said she got up and left on her own. But we d-don't know for sure…"

Giles fell almost limp to the floor next to the nurse, knowing that the Queen must have what she needs now. Xander just stood there for a minute, starring into space. His lungs were burning like he had run a marathon; his heart was beating at a ridiculous pace. Somewhere deep inside he had known that he would find Faith gone, that this trip to the hospital was just a waste of precious time. 

The two men left to nurse crying on the cold tile floor of the hospital and walked back out to the car. As they opened the doors and sat down Giles looked at Xander and Xander back at Giles. They both knew what was going to happen next.

"Ready to kill the Queen?" Giles asked hesitantly

"Nope," Xander said, "but I'm willing to die trying."

***

Riley Finn had been sitting in the same spot for nearly two days now with nothing to do but to talk to this Angel character and hope that somehow the Queen would make a mistake and he could find a way to escape. Nothing so far had given him any hope. 

Twice a day, five vampires would come into the cell and take Angel away in chains for an hour each time. The screams as they tortured him were horrible, but seemed more tired than anything else. Angel moaned as he screamed, as they burned him and bleed him, as they cut new holes into him and stitched them back up with crude thread. His torture had broken his spirit and it seemed that the pain didn't bother him as much as his yearning to die.

When they brought him back each time Angel would sit there and cry for a time and then fall asleep. After his painful nap he would wake and talk a bit, but only of how powerful the Queen was, and how he longed for death. At some point, Riley got a little fed up with him and his broken spirit and finally lashed out in anger.

"Why don't you just die then," he said after another one of the broken man's comments. "Just give up and die. Stop eating. Antagonize one of the men torturing you and get him to jab a little harder. I don't know how the heck you've lived this long anyway."

For the first time since their first conversation Riley saw Angel smile. 

"You really don't understand, do you Special Agent Riley Finn?" he said with a rasp from the blood in his lungs. 

"Of course I do," Finn said mad. "You want to die, you complain that you want to die. You hurt and you want peace. So do something about it."

Angel looked up with an anger that Riley hadn't seen yet. Even without eyes, it seemed that Angel was looking right into him and that sent shivers down his spine. What is this guy?

"I am a vampire!" Angel forced out, answering Riley's silent question. "I cannot die. No matter how many times they poke me, or how many times they cut me, or how many times they burn me, I will not die."

"You're a what?" Riley said aghast.

"A vampire," Angel said annoyed. "You know, a blood-drinking, scared-of-the-sun, no-shadow evil thing! I was cursed with a soul. I tried to stop the Queen and she made me into this."

"So she gave you a soul?" Riley said confused. 

"No," Angel replied and then without pausing began to tell Riley the story of how he came to have a soul and how he fell in love with the Slayer and all the chaos that followed, His death and resurrection with a reunited soul and body; How he had decided to end it and leave for Los Angeles; and how when the Slayer became the vile Queen that she is now, how he returned to stop her.

"I fought her when she was alive and she was my match. A centuries old vampire and I couldn't stop her when she was the Slayer. Once she became the Queen, she was more powerful than even I could handle. We fought in one of the cemeteries for near an hour and when we were finished she dragged my beaten body down into these tunnels and put me here. Since then, everyday is a torture. Everyday I am cut and bleed and burned and beaten. Everyday she comes and mocks me and allows her vampires to make me their plaything."

Special Agent Riley Finn shivered. He couldn't tell if he was a little cold or just that his heart, and his iron will, had been chilled. Suddenly the door to the cell swung open and two vampires came in, armed with small dart guns. Angel shriveled up in the corner, bracing himself for a beating or some other torture.

"Not now Angelus," one of the vampires said and then pointed to Riley. "It's his turn."

With that both vamps fired the darts into his chest and almost immediately Riley felt his head to start to spin and his world fade to black.

***

Faith was still steaming, almost a day later, from her last encounter with Buffy. The rocking in her chains had become almost obsessive now, causing her Slayer-enhanced wrists to bleed from where her shackles had starting digging into her. The blood, the anger, the sight of Buffy mocking her; it had all sent her over the edge. She was mad with a passion to kill. Nothing would satisfy her until she saw that whore dusted.

The hum of conversation and activity had picked up in the last few hours since Faith had woken up, like something big was going to happen very soon. It made sense after-all. Months of sitting and hanging, never once being spoken too, never knowing who was behind her capture and then all within the last two days she had discovered that Buffy was the Queen vamp behind it all. And then when Buffy told her that she was going to be gone, that something better was going to rise in her place… yeah, B had something planned and it was big. 

Before those final thoughts could finish making their way to the surface the "something" Faith had been expecting seemed to start happening. A group of eight vampires came around the corner, all carrying little guns that looked like they were loaded with darts. 

"Comon you bastards!" Faith yelled, rocking hard on her chains. "Let me down from here and we'll see how good those guns are!"

Without speaking a word, all eight vampires fired their darts at Faith, all hitting their mark. 

"You stupid F*'ers!" Faith yelled feeling the drugs from the darts burning in her blood. "Come here and fight me! You worthless pieces of…"

Again the eight vampires fired in unison and again not one of them missed Faith's body, despite her continuous rocking. This time, the drugs took their affect on Faith and she dropped off into an uneasy sleep, muttering obscenities until her head finally drooped and body relaxed, leaving her softly swinging there, still naked, still bleeding from the wrists, quietly awaiting her destiny.

***

Xander sat alone on Giles couch and thought about the last eight months while the rest of the scoobies slept to prepare for that night. All this time they had been fighting, struggling, looking for how they could stop Buffy… no, not Buffy, Buffy was dead. They were looking for how they could stop the Queen. Buffy was dead and gone. Her body was just infested with half-breed demon scum that was abusing her body to it's own ends. That's what was going on. Right?

Xander couldn't remember how many times he had tried to get it into his head that this wasn't Buffy they were fighting. At first he was in such shock that nothing made any sense to him. He just knew that Sunnydale was changing and that Buffy wasn't there to protect it, in fact, she was causing it. But then again, it wasn't her. At one point he and Anya sat up all night and talked about it over and over again. They went in circles all night talking about vampires and demons and Buffy and how it all worked and slowly the idea fought into Xanders skull. Finally after that and numerous other talks he thought it was sinking in, he thought that he was starting to accept that Buffy was dead and that this Queen person wasn't her at all. One night though, he saw her. He saw the Queen out with her hoard of vampires and it all came rushing back. 

They had been out killing vampires and saving any fools who had ventured outside in the night and suddenly, only a few minutes before dawn, a band of vampires fell on them, ready for blood. Willow had protected them quite well her magic and he and Giles had managed to dust a few with crossbows and then with the stakes they had brought along but the fight was still more than they thought they could handle. 

When one vampire had leapt onto Xander from a trashcan nearby he dusted it but fell to the ground from the collision. When he looked up, he saw her. She was standing on a roof-top watching, giving orders and looking almost alive, almost. She still had her beautiful blonde hair, her enchanting smile and the stunning body that came with being a Slayer, but she was eerie somehow. Her flesh was a little paler than usual and there was something about her movements that was a little more violent.

Fortunately for the Scoobies the sun was rising and the whole band of vampires had to head for the depths below Sunnydale before they could finish off the outnumbered heroes. No one else in the group seemed to have seen her and if they did no one mentioned it, so Xander kept it to himself. Seeing her though, seeing Buffy made his head swim again, awash in the confusion of seeing a ghost, a long dead friend come back to life… 

Again, Xander had to shake the idea out of his head. Buffy was not resurrected. She was dead. Her soul had left and a demon took what was left of her and made it it's home. 

"I need to stop thinking so much," Xander smiled to himself, attempting to humor himself out of the stupor he was in. "Bad habit I've developed from living with Giles."

Getting up, Xander made his way back over to the book that Giles had shown him the night before, one of the Watchers diaries. The volume was leather bound and worn. It had that musty library smell that Giles adored. Astounding that it held the secret that they needed to needed to uncover, locked up in one tiny phrase in one sentence, right at the front of the book. For the twentieth time that day he read:

"Anna hath begun her labours as the sacred Slayer this year 1421, after vanquishing her first horrible foe…"

That was it. Had it been anyone but Giles, they would have known nothing and kept searching in vain, right up until the end but Giles, he catches every detail, every little mistake and un-dotted "i" that one can find. Thank God for Giles.

Watchers, as a whole, keep very, very good records. They record every name, every date, every detail of everything they and their Slayer encounter. Anything they miss could possibly mean their death, or the death of millions, or even the death of a later Slayer. They just never knew what detail could be the missing link to solve the mystery or defeat the foe. This time, the detail that saved humanity, was the one the Watcher omitted.

Giles noticed that the name of the "horrible foe," a common term in old watcher diaries for major baddies, was omitted. The Watcher didn't give any details as to the fight, the setting, or how the foe was defeated.It was like this foe was just bad and that was all the Watcher felt obligated to write, or was able to write. It peaked Giles interest.

When Giles looked back at the previous diary he found that the previous Watcher had described the death of his Slayer, in much detail, and included a date: 1419, putting the time between her death and the rise of the next Slayer at roughly more than a year. 

At this point, while Giles had been explaining this before, Xander and Willow and the rest began to catch on. A new Slayer is called immediately after the death of the previous one, not more than a year later. Where had the extra time gone? What happened to the Slayer legacy? Had it paused? Had there been another Slayer in-between? 

It had been some time since Giles had made any effort to work with the Watcher's Counsel on anything but he had to know what had happened. Late that night Giles called the Counsel and went "bloody crazy" on them, demanding to know what had happened in that years time, demanding to know why they had hidden the information all this time. 

The answer exactly what the scoobies needed, and exactly what they had feared they might hear. 

There had indeed been another Slayer in-between that year's span that there were no diaries for. Actually, there had been a diary, there was a diary, and it was hidden in the Counsel's archives for a very, very good reason. That Slayer, named Jeanette, was a French woman of humble descent and had very little training before she was called as the Slayer. She fought bravely but stumbled one night into the trap of a vampire and was bitten. Not even her Watcher knew why or how, but somewhere along the line, Jeanette drank of the vampires blood, and she too became a vampire.

The story, as amazing as it already was, did not end there. Jeanette, becoming quite powerful after resurrection, went after the next Slayer, Anna, and intended to use her for a ritual that the Watchers Counsel kept as an even closer secret. It was a ritual that used the blood of the Slayer, shed at midnight on a Blue Moon to open a Hell-Mouth wide open and bring all the death, the demons and chaos up onto the earth forever and ever. 

"Tonight is a Blue Moon," Xander muttered to himself, coming out of his memories yet again. "Tonight, the Queen is going to use Faith's blood to open the Hell-Mouth and bring hell right here to Sunnydale."

Xander walked back over the couch and lay down, thinking the phrase over and over again. "Tonight is a Blue Moon. Tonight, the Queen is going to use Faith's blood to open the Hell-Mouth. Tonight is a Blue Moon…"

Xander drifted off to sleep thinking the same thought over and over again. Soon it would be time to rush into battle again, to either die or to stop the Queen once and for all. Tonight, Xander would face his old friend, and his fears, and the fate of the world was in his tiny, human, near-helpless hands. 

***

Riley was starting to get fed up of being knocked out every time he was going to be moved. His head was aching again as the blackness started to fade and he remembered getting shot in the chest with some kind of tranquilizer darts. 

"Ouch," he said softly to himself as he sat up and rubbed his chest where the darts had left sores. 

"It won't hurt soon," Riley heard a soft voice say.

As his eyes opened and began to focus he found himself sitting in yet another stone room, faced by the Queen and numerous vampires attending to her and running about. This room, however had a large stone table, covered with strange markings and to it was strapped a naked woman. She was lying on her back limp, but breathing.

"Don't worry about her," the Queen said reassuringly. "You won't share her fate. I have plans for you."

"What do you want?" Riley said trying to sound strong, despite his soreness and the throbbing in his head.

"The question dear," the Queen said with a laugh, "is what do _you_ want?"

She stood and walked over towards Riley, still sitting on the floor. She walked a slow circle around him and ran her fingers along his shoulder, around the back of his neck and down the other shoulder.

"Do you," she said pausing dramatically, "Do you want to be immortal?"

"W-what?" Riley said, unable to hide his anxiousness now.

"Do you want to be immortal?" the Queen repeated a tad bit annoyed. "Do you want to be strong? To fear nothing? To live forever? Because, that is what I am offering to you, Riley Finn, what every man desires, to be immortal."

"I don't want anything from you," Riley mustered. "Stop."

"No," the Queen said with a smile. "I will not stop, ever. No one can stop me. I am a goddess." She began to walk away from him again and then turned back. "I am offering you godhood."

"W-what do you mean?" Riley asked as the Queen starred him in the eyes again.

"I mean, you can be like me. You can be powerful and happy and eternal," the Queen replied with hypnotic eyes. "What do you say Riley?"

"No!" Riley shouted with as much force as his tired body could muster, almost scaring the Queen with the blast. "You mean you're going to make me a vampire. I'd rather die you whore!"

For an instant the pale blue eyes of the Queen seemed to burn red with anger but just as quickly as they had changed, they shifted back to calm. She smiled and walked up very close to Riley and got right down in his face, so close that he could smell the decaying flesh on her vampire mouth. She grabbed him by the chin and made him look her in the eye.

"Then you're going to have to die," she said with a perverted grin.

Never had fear set so deep within the heart of Special Agent Riley Finn, never in his training, or his time fighting demons, never. He watched as the Queen stood again and walked over to a small table nearby. She picked up a long knife with an ornate handle and then nodded at two of the nearby vampires. They quickly rushed over and forced Riley up and then immediately back down, so he knelt before the undead Queen. 

With tears starting to form at the corners of his eyes Riley looked up at the Queen who still smiled her perverted smile. She took the knife and waved it around in the air a few times, letting the candle light glisten off of it. Finally she looked back down at Riley, this time with a hint of pity in her eyes. 

"Just in case you change your mind…" she said trailing off. Then the Queen took the knife and cut a line across one of her collarbones and let the crimson blood run out onto her skin. She knelt down next Riley, who was being held still now by the vampires around him. He felt his body start to tremble as she came near, like she was about to make love to him, but she wasn't. She was going to kill him and he knew it. 

Her face grazed his own as she made her slow descent down to his neck and the combination of her soft, yet cold skin made him shiver. While she had no breathe, it seemed as though he could feel her essence billowing down around his neck and down his chest. Her soft body pressed gently against his own in an unholy embrace as she started pulling him in close. He wanted to scream but it wouldn't come. He wanted to run but his body seemed to be paralyzed. So he knelt there and felt the vampire Queen move down to bite him and take his life away forever.

The feeling of her teeth sinking into his flesh was nothing like he expected it to be. It was a brief pain as the teeth penetrated the surface but then there was a fire, a good fire, a pleasurable fire, that burned in the small wounds as the teeth sank further in and found their target, his jugular. The experience of feeling the blood rush from his extremities and concentrate on his neck was amazing as pain filled the bloodless parts of his body and his neck seemed to explode with pleasure in the swirl of flesh and bone and teeth and blood as he started to die. 

Riley Finn, dazed and burning with a desire to live, as he became weak let his head slump down and when it did, he saw it, the crimson red blood resting on the shoulder of Queen who was draining him as he looked. It was life. The red reminded him of the fire in his neck and the passion that he felt for this demonic woman that was taking his life. The blood was his only chance. It was life, or death but whatever it was, it was there, beckoning him with the same hypnosis that danced in the eyes of the Queen. 

Just as he started to feel his world turn black, and his life slip away Riley Finn made a choice and with that hastily made choice buried his head into the shoulder of the Queen and drank. He drank with all the strength he had left, feeling her life wash into him with the salty-sweet red liquid and then he collapsed into darkness. Riley Finn, the Special Agent, the man, was dead.

***

Faith woke up even angrier than before but felt the anger slip away for a brief second when she realized that for the first time in eight months, she was not hanging from her wrists. She was colder now though, as she was stretched across a stone table and shackled tightly to the floor. Her head was held in place with a metal ring so that she couldn't even turn her head left or right. All she could do was look ahead and wonder what was going on. She could hear faint voices and the scraping of feet that were actually quite close.

"Take him to the adjacent room and call me when he wakes," Faith heard a woman say. It was Buffy, she realized and then the anger washed back over her. 

"Buffy! You whore!" Faith screamed, hearing some feet scrambling at the sound of her voice and others walking away, dragging something heavy with them. "Where are you?"

"Oh I'm right here sister," she heard Buffy say playfully. Suddenly her face came into view. It was a little more pale than in the past, and her teeth seemed a little stained with blood, but it was Buffy's face. 

Faith tried to lash out at her but simply managed to once again cut her wrists on the shackles and hurt her neck as she strained against the metal ring holding her in place. 

"Sister, sister," Buffy said, "calm down and save your strength for tonight."

Faith decided not to give her the pleasure of not asking what was going to happen tonight. 

"Just let me up and I'll kill you and this can all be over ok you undead b*?" Faith snapped.

Buffy laughed a cold laugh in Faith's face and then disappeared from her view. Faith could hear her walking around the table, just far enough away to stay out of her view. 

"Just save your strength sister," Buffy said, still out of sight. "Tonight you die and in turn you open the Hell-Mouth. Tonight the world dies and in turn paves the way for my eternal victory. I will rule the darkness of Earth forever and ever and I'll have your blood to thank."

Faith sat silently for the first time since she had discovered that Buffy was the Queen, in shock. She could hear her move around to another end of the room and give quiet instructions to the other vampires.

"Prepare her," Buffy said to another out of sight vampire. "We begin in two hours."

***

The scoobies were assembled and ready to go, armed with protection spells, crossbows, holy water, steaks and everything else they could manage to carry and still move somewhat freely. The time had come. Xander stood and strapped the last crossbow to his back. Willow and Tara were already by the door, humming out a musical sounding spell to prepare the way. Giles, standing nervous but in his very British cold way, took a steak from Anya, put it into his long black jacket and nodded at Xander.

"Two and a half hours till the end of the world," Giles said devoid of humor. "Ready?"

"Let's go." Xander said and turned towards the door, ready to face the ghost of Buffy.

***

Ok, ok… you guys all like the twists and turns so far? I'm loving writing this, I hope you're loving reading! Ok, Chapter four is coming very soon, I promise it won't be six months this time…

~Saint


	4. Part Four

The Queen: Part 4

Ok, so it's been a month this time instead of six. I've been in Guatemala doing humanitarian relief work outside of Guatemala City. I speak Spanish and absolutely adore the people and sights of Central and South America. It was a great time, but now, I get to return to writing! Ah, the joys of having absolute control over a world. This is the final chapter. Let me know what you guys really think! I love feedback, good or bad.

The Queen Part Four 

The battle in the caves and tunnels was very much what Xander and the Scoobies expected. The close quarters gave them the ability to fend off their attackers with much less trouble than out in the streets of Sunnydale. Wave after wave had come crashing into them, only to be dusted by the crossbows and driven back by the sight of Holy Crosses. The forces seemed to be thinning out now though, after an hour of constant combat, as though either they had slain most of the forces there, or more likely, that they had fallen back to defend their Queen and the ritual that would assure their survival. 

Finding a brief moment to collect themselves the group stopped to prepare for the final rush. Xander and Giles, having done much of the fighting were bumped and bruised and had some cuts which Willow was attending to. Anya and Tara were collecting the arrows left on the ground from the dusted vampires to keep their supply up. 

"We are nearly to the center I think," Giles said while wiping sweat from his brow. "The caves are becoming wider, the torches brighter. We can expect that the Queen is very close."

Xander didn't even reply. He was lost in thought and reloading his crossbow slowly and deliberately. Giles decided to let it go and not repeat himself.

"So what do we do if the Queen's already started the ritual?" came Anya's voice from a few feet away.

"Well, this ritual is all a matter of timing," Giles started, looking a little like the old, smug British Giles they all remembered from a few years ago. "The Queen must start the incantation after Faith has been prepared with different mixtures of potions and slimes and after she has been prayed over by priests of the Nether-gods. Once she starts the incantation she must finish before midnight and then precisely at midnight, Faith will be cut from the neck, down her chest and stomach and let bleed."

"Eewwww…" came Anya's reply, as the rest of the gang stood in appropriate silence. 

"S-s-so w-what do we d-do," Tara started to ask.

"…if we get there and Faith has already been cut?" Giles finished and starred off into space somberly.

"We die," Xander said, finally looking up. "So let's go stop it."

The group gathered what their things and started to move, following Xander, who felt the weight of the world on his shoulders once again. 

***

Faith felt more disgusting than she had in the eight months she had been hanging by her wrists without a shower, or a toilet, or any clothing. Her body was smeared with awful smelling, slimy mud in designs and ancient letters, obviously a part of the ritual that Buffy had planned for her. She was still pinned to the cold stone table with chains and a brace that held her head in place. All she had managed to see in the last few hours she had been awake were the hands of the vampire priests as they smeared the mud, and the occasional bodies of vampires as they passed in and out of the room. 

Faith heard the shuffle of feet behind her head and called out.

"You! What are you doing to me! Where's that slut Buffy?" she yelled without pause, the desperation in her voice starting to shine through. 

Suddenly the face of a vampire appeared in her vision and it was very angry. 

"Sacrifices to not speak," it growled. "And if we did not need you for tonight, I would torture you for referring to the Queen like that you worthless piece of flesh."

Immediately the face was gone and the sound of feet continuing their way out of the room was all Faith was left with. Well, that and her thoughts. The idea of death, at least her own death, had never seemed real to Faith. She was a Slayer, a powerful kick-a$$ Slayer who got whatever she wanted. She had never faced anyone before who she really thought had the power to kill her, not even the mayor, or Buffy…

But here she was, lying on a cold stone table, bleeding from her wrists, unable to move, to kill, to command. Here she was in the hands of a woman she hated before out of jealousy, who now lusted after her blood. It was like everything she ever thought or felt or knew was wrong, all wrong. At the point that all that rushed through her head, invading the innermost parts of Faith's mind, she did something she hadn't done in years, something that she never saw herself doing again. She cried. She cried from the bottom of her heart as though the tears would wash away the pain. And she lied there and waited for her fate, hoping against hope that somehow she could just die before Buffy had her way.

***

Riley felt his heavy eyes begin to open and his consciousness coming back to him. He sat up and held his head for a moment, feeling like he wasn't even in his own body. Something was different. Suddenly Riley felt a rush of energy and strength pass through his body, like a super adrenaline rush. It was amazing. The strength; the power; to clarity he felt. It was like being a god…

_"I'm offering you godhood,"_ to words rang out in his mind. 

_"I am a vampire,"_ Riley thought to himself. And then out loud, "I am a god!" 

For a minute or two he sat and took in the new feelings. The silence in his body was astounding. No heartbeat, no digestion, to flowing blood to cause noise over his thoughts. There was no fatigue, there were no aches in his muscles, only energy and strength. He could jump 15 feet in the air, or run miles without rest. Why had he been afraid of such power before? What a fool.

As the body of Riley Finn, now a vampire, rose from the table and began to walk around he experienced an old feeling mixed in with all the new ones. That feeling was disrupting the perfection. It was clouding his thoughts, replacing the feeling of godhood with a twinge of weakness. Confused for a minute Riley returned to his table and sat back down. What was it that was confusing his power, disrupting his godhood? Damn, what was it?

Almost instantly the remembrance of the feeling came back. He knew what it was and how to return to his "godhood." He rose once again and headed for the door, determined to feel that assurance again, to be godlike. The feeling was hunger, and once he satisfied that hunger the feeling would return. Only then would the pain go away, only then could he become once again powerful and clear-headed. He needed to feed and the first living human that Riley came across was going to be his dinner.

With that Riley Finn rushed out of the room and down the hall, seeking godhood.

***

The Scoobies knew they must be close to the center of the caves. There were rooms with doors, some electric lights, and all sorts of stashes of jewelry, televisions, and other things the vampires ripped off their victims. It was like a flea market down here. Xander had been leading the pack the whole way but for the last ten minutes, there had been no sign of vampires, like they had all fled. 

"We have to find the Queen," Xander said, mostly to himself, still running down the corridors. "She has to be nearby."

The gang came around a corner and immediately Xander put on the breaks, causing the rest of the team to smash into his back. If Giles hadn't seen what Xander did and grabbed the falling teen, they would have lost their fearless leader. Xander hung by the grip of Giles over a very, very deep pit in the middle of a circular room. 

"Holy Sh*!" Xander hollered in terror. 

Giles and the girls pulled him back onto the adjacent ledge with the rest of the group, all huffing and puffing as much from fear as from fatigue.

"Are you alright Xander?" Giles asked.

"I'm fine," Xander replied, sounding a little annoyed. "Let's just keep moving."

Before the team could even get themselves up off the ground to get on their way they were stopped by the voice of Anya.

"Um, guys…" came Anya's voice. "Look up there."

The whole team looked up and knew immediately what it was they were seeing. Hanging from the ceiling were chains that ended in shackles and those shackles were covered in blood. This was the room they kept Faith in all this time. 

"Then we know we're getting closer," Xander spat out, trying to sound strong. Ignoring the fear that rose into his mind by picturing the Queen holding Faith without a problem for at least a few months, Xander got up and started moving. The rest of the team followed suit.

At this point everything in the tunnels, well, now they were into the lair; everything in the lair started to look alike. There was door after door on either side of them that lead to small, empty rooms. Still they ran on, hoping that each new turn would bring them into the room that held the Queen, Faith and the chance to save the world, yet again.

"Haven't we been in this corridor before?" Willow asked through heavy breathes. 

"I don't know," Xander replied. "Just keep running."

Once again Xander came to an abrupt stop causing the team to slam into his back. This time Giles wasted no time in grabbing Xander before he fell.

"What is it Xander?" Giles asked confused. They had stopped in the middle of a corridor.

"I heard something…" Xander trailed off. "Like someone in chains moving."

"Where?" Willow asked.

"Shhh…" Xander quieted her. "I hear it again. Back there."

Pushing his way through the others, Xander walked back about twenty feet, with his right ear cocked up and ahead of him. The rest of the group followed slowly behind. Xander stopped and looked into one of the barred windows on his right, paused, squinted and looked back again and then suddenly grabbed the bars and shook the doors violently, much to the confusion of the rest of the team.

"Angel!" Xander screamed, bringing the rest of the scoobies running.

***

Faith had stopped her tears but lied still in fear and exhaustion on her table, waiting for her fate. Somehow it seemed poetic that she should die at the hands of Buffy, an evil and twisted Buffy. She had spent so much time using her strength to cause pain, for Buffy, for Sunnydale, for people in general, just so that she could be comfortable. She had fought side by side with the things she was supposed to be destroying and only Buffy, in her self-righteousness and do-gooder style had managed to stop her. Then the model of Slayer disgusting Slayer self-sacrifice herself turned evil, and is making "Want, Take, Have," her motto. Amazing how the tables turn. 

What had brought her to this spot? It wasn't just a stupid moment with a vampire eight months ago. What had made her loose it? Why in the world had things gone the way they had… No, no. Faith was not willing to think that way. No one in the world would look out for her. Everyone looks out for themselves. That's the way it works. Survival of the fittest. Might makes Right. Want, Take, Have…

But what about Buffy? What about her god-awful friends with poor taste in clothing and cheesy blind love for each other? They don't really look out for themselves. Maybe they do. How in the world could a person become that simple, that Naïve? Comon, nobody really loves without expecting something in return. No one had ever loved her that way, in any case. 

On and on the thoughts, the questions spiraled in Faith's head, all useless as her death approached, but worth thinking, at least for right now. The time seemed to drag on, each thought, each painful realization sinking in and making her sick to her stomach in it's time, and then making way for the next one and the next knot in her gut.

Faith heard a scuffling of feet around a corner and a howl. Before she could take in the sounds a vampire rushed over her body and reared back to back her neck. Exhausted, and grateful for the attack, Faith rolled her head back, ready to die.

***

The strike to his head had almost made the vampire that had once been Riley Finn black out. He sat there on the floor with an odd sense of déjà vu about the sensation. Anger was still burning in his body and if it hadn't been the Queen who had struck him, Riley felt he may have destroyed a whole city block in rage. But it was the Queen and when he saw her for the first time again, as a vampire now, he immediately understood the fear that the others felt for her. The power that emanated from her, it was like scent of a million deaths on her breathe, the blood of more than he understood on her hands. She was the Queen.

Still, he was angry about getting hit. He had simply been hungry. While trying to find his way out of the tunnels to find human blood he stumbled into this chamber room, the room where just a few hours ago he had been sired, by the Queen herself, and he found a perfect human body, ready to be drank, ready to restore his godhood. When he saw her he could smell all the smells of her still-living body and hear the sweet sound of her still-beating heart. The shear joy, the rapture of the idea of drinking and restoring that feeling, being a god! 

As soon as he could get his feet moving he dashed over to the table and leapt upon the naked woman, ignoring her perfect figure that a day before would have left him stunned, and instantly dropped his head to bite the waiting neck. Before he could even get his teeth deep enough to break the skin the blow from the Queen sent him reeling back off the table a several feet across the floor. 

So there he sat, looking up at her in semi-fear, semi-love, waiting for her to speak. She, of course, obliged.

"You fool!" she screamed, "do you realize what you might have done?"

The power coming from her body flowed out of her as she spoke and forced Riley up into a ball against the wall, trembling in fear. The sight of which seemed to dull the Queen's rage.

"Oh," she said now sounding patronizing. "You poor, simple, powerful, little god. You just want your fix, don't you?" 

Riley managed to look up at her and nod a little, feeling her energy and power ebbing back into her. He suddenly felt the need to please her with all he had. 

"You have much to learn my child," the Queen said, softly taking Riley's chin and pulling his face to meet hers, her eyes reassuring. "The time will come when you will satisfy your hunger; Very soon, actually."

"Yes," Riley sputtered out. "Please, soon…"

The Queen was standing again, but looked down at the pathetically needy, strong man. Before she could continue into whatever new knowledge she had for him a number of vampires filed into the room, some dressed in long red cloaks, others in street clothes. One came immediately to the Queen's side and whispered in her ear.

"We're ready then," she said turning to Riley, brushing off the vampire at her side. "Go little god. Kill, Drink, Feel…" 

Riley rose hesitantly, looking cautiously into the Queen's eyes the whole while he made his way to standing. 

"You begin your new life as a god," she continued. "We will start the ritual, and you will have your blood."

Riley found himself eagerly smiling at the Queen, proud of her approval, and excited at the opportunity to experience the perfect silence and peace that came with the drinking of blood. 

"Where?" Riley asked hungrily. 

"Down those tunnels a few hundred feet," the Queen said, pointing to a door. "Kill them all. Leave their lifeless bodies in the tunnels and whatever you do, keep them from this room. Understand?"

Riley nodded absent-mindedly, already walking for the door. The thirst for blood had overcome his desire to please the Queen and nothing was going to prevent him from satisfying that thirst.

The Queen turned to the robed vampires and nodded. "Time to begin…"

***

The greetings in the dank cell were brief, the reminiscing left for later, after the world had been saved. Willow had worked a little magic and unlocked the door to Angel's cell. Then with the axe Giles had been carrying on his back Xander was able to break the chains binding the cursed vampire to the wall. Once he was on his feet, and the group made a concentrated effort to ignore the disfigurement, they explained the situation to Angel.

"I know the way to the chamber," Angel said in his best "let's get moving" voice. Xander noticed the distinct difference, the weariness that ran underneath in the voice and shuddered to himself at the things he thought Buf… The Queen must have done to break the spirit of this vampire. 

"That's great Blinky," Anya said, the only one willing to voice the group's confusion. "But, no eyes, remember?" Xander was gonna hafta work with her on that whole tact thing. Before anyone could respond Angel replied.

"I used to live down here," Angel said softly. "I know where we're going."

Without hesitating Angel moved through the crowd, walked into the hall and started moving down the corridor. Xander shrugged at the rest and followed, leading the others out and after the blind vampire. He saw no reason to doubt a man who had nothing left to lose and only revenge to gain. 

***

Faith was sobbing. She had stopped crying for a time but now the threat of death was being realized and all she could do was sob. A few minutes ago Buffy had approached the table with a group of other vampires, all dressed in red. In her time as a Slayer, Faith actually got to fight a nasty baddie or two, and nothing had ever come close to scaring her as much as those vampires in the red robes, there to brutally take her life. Immediately she began to tremble and cry, and when the fear overcame her completely she wet herself and then lay there still, softly crying. The sobbing came when Buffy leaned over her, breaking the solemn spirit of the ritual and winked at her with a smile. The end was here, and Buffy was enjoying it.

So there lay the dark-Slayer, helpless, laying in her own urine and covered in different mixtures of muds, slimes and God-knows what else and sobbing while the incantation started. Above her head Buffy stood, rocking back and forth, and chanting something in an ancient tongue. The vampires in the red, stood all around her, softly echoing in whispers Buffy's spell. 

Faith glanced up for a brief second and in that time saw all the red vampires simultaneously take shining metal blades from their cloaks. Overcome once again with fear Faith screamed with all the force her tired, slayer body could muster. 

***

The scoobies had made it through about another two hundred yards of tunnels, including several twists and turns when the scream came. Angel stopped dead in his tracks. The scream had come from a room about another fifty yards ahead of them. They had found the Queen. Xander turned to the group, looking into each of their faces and reading the fear, and the assurance in their eyes. How had he been shifted into leadership? Why in the world would they put their faith in him?

"Let's go," Xander said, ignoring the doubts rising in his mind. Now was not the time to deal with those. "Only three minutes till midnight."

The group echoed their approval with nods, and softly whispered "yes's" while Xander moved to the front of Angel, ready to lead everyone to save the world, or their deaths, but ready, nonetheless. 

Just as Xander took his first step he heard a shuffle behind him and turned in time to be knocked into my the rest of the team, as they fell to the ground. Xander kept his balance but almost fainted when he looked up at what had caused the tumble. It was a huge vampire holding Anya in his grasp and his teeth firmly planted in her neck, allowing blood to trickle out, but not biting deep enough to kill her. Without thinking Xander grabbed for a stake and moved towards the vamp.

"Xander!" Giles screamed from the floor, stopping the young hero in his tracks. "Only two and a half minutes!"

A million things invaded Xanders head at that moment: The night before, holding Anya while she slept and he couldn't; The face of the Queen when he had seen her in the streets; the idea of the Hell Mouth opening. Here was his love, about to die, and he had to choose between her, and the whole world. What's the world worth without her? 

Xander took another step towards the vampire, who was now backing away down the corridor.

"Xander!" Giles screamed again and he pulled himself and Willow to their feet. "Please!"

Xander felt his heart and his head at war within him. His feet felt like lead, his head was spinning. The vampire was biting a little harder now, the blood starting to drain out and down Anya's neck, staining her shirt. She couldn't die! 

"Comon little man," the vampire said, coming up from Anya's neck for a few seconds. "I'm going to drink her dry and unless you think you can stop me."

Xander and Anya's eyes met, both filled with tears and longing to be out of this situation. That was it, he had to save her.

"Two minutes," Giles roared as he turned and started moving in the other direction. Willow came to Xander's side, leaving Tara with Giles and Angel for a moment.

"I'm so sorry Xander," she whispered. "Please…"

Xander's gaze met the floor and then he looked back up into Anya's eyes again. Her's were full of tears, as much from emotional agony as physical, but she nodded as best she could at Xander and mouthed "go." 

The tears streamed down Xanders face as he looked at the floor again and then turned and ran after Giles and the others with Willow, trying his best to ignore Anya's horrible, gurgling scream as she died from the vampires bite, while his heart died inside of him.

***

The taste of blood sent orgasmic pleasure through the entire body of Riley Finn as he ripped into the flesh of this weak little woman. He could feel the power of her life start to surge into him, to settle his stomach, to silence the hunger. Once again, he felt like a god, untouchable. Unfortunately his hostage ploy had been unsuccessful in preventing the others from proceeding down the corridor. Now he had to rush down all the blood and chase after them, and then deal with the Queen for failing to stop them from continuing. 

Riley wondered if all humans squirmed this badly while they were dying or if it was unique to just the women. Obviously he was being a little rough, tearing the flesh and breaking bone, but it was his first feeding. It's expected that he might not be as clean as some other vampires. What he enjoyed was all the whimpering and crying she was doing. Almost like the moans during sex enhance the whole experience, all this painful shrieking just pumped Riley up for more. 

_Wait, stop… The others… Give chase. She's dead now. Go after the others…Comon Riley, GO!_

With broken thoughts and an already renewed yearning for blood, Riley started after the other humans, leaving the corpse there for the other vampires to clean and tend to. He had some killing to do.

***

Xander rounded the corner into the ceremony room and found Giles, Angel, and Tara already in combat with several vampires, who were keeping them from getting to another group of vampires, all in red and standing in a circle with the Queen at the head. She was chanting something and doing a very good job of ignoring the commotion around her. 

His mind still awash in the pain of losing Anya, Xander paused for a moment, dumbfounded, when he saw the Queen. He hadn't been this close to her since she was human. She looked so alive, so real… She had Anya killed! She's not Buffy. Anya is gone… Buffy is gone… Save the world… 

"STOP!" Xander yelled at the top of his lungs and then rushed at the group of red vampires, knowing that Faith was there amongst them. His mind was burning and pounding in his head and his stomach was turning over and over again, preparing to vomit, and Xander knew to do was to fight. He had to save the world. There will be time to mourn later, maybe. 

Before Xander could make it to the other group, one of the regular vampires tackled him and the two rolled round on the ground, fighting for position. Realizing he still held the stake he had meant for Anya's assailant, Xander rocked his body and pushed off with that hand to force the vampire into the air, on that side. As he fell again, Xander twisted his hand around and met the falling chest of the vampire with the pointy end of the wood.

Before the dust in the air cleared, Xander was on his feet and moving again, determined to get to the Queen. The crowd of vampires had thinned a bit as they were being dusted here and there by the group. Even Angel had found new strength and was wrestling the vampires that approached him to the ground and staking them with one of the darts from the crossbows. 

Another three vampires leapt at Xander, who suddenly found himself standing with Tara and fighting to protect both of them. Tara was humming again and seemed to be deflecting most of the attacks but really wasn't able much to do any killing. So Xander wielded his stake around and forced two of them back, out of his reach. The third grabbed Tara at the neck and pulled her in close. 

The young witch was able to fend him off for the second Xander needed to jump to her rescue and stake the demon in the back, sending him swirling into a cloud of dust. 

"Look out!" Tara screamed, as the other two vampires both moved towards the distracted Xander. 

Heeding the warning, Xander spun, stake sideways, and put the tip through the side of one vampire and knocked him into the other, sending them both sprawling onto the floor. All the extra hours working with Giles on fighting techniques had really paid of. He'd have to thank the old Brit for it if they got out of this alive. 

"Xander!" came a scream from Willow, who was backed into a corner, fending off vampires with brief, musical barrier spells. "Look!"

Xander spun back around in time to see the Queen draw a huge sword from her side and hold it up to cut Faith. Without another thought, before he even realized it Xander started moving for the Queen, knowing that only few seconds were left between them and death. 

Tara followed after, the only other free scoobie, and started speaking a spell in Latin that ended with a shriek. With that shriek all the red-cloaked vampires flew away from the table as though blown away by a hurricane, revealing a naked, crying Faith, who suddenly looked up, shocked to see Xander, or anyone, coming to her rescue. 

At that moment the Queen was bringing her sword down to cut Faith, Xander almost there. He leapt with all his strength at the Queen and tackled her with all his might. The result was somewhat anti-climatic as she merely stumbled to the side and Xander fell to the ground, feeling as though he had just hit a brick wall. The stumble, as brief, and disappointing as it was, was just what they had needed. Midnight had passed before she could cut Faith; the world was safe.

The rest of the scoobies had managed to kill off the last few vampires in the room and were gathering themselves to stand and face Buffy, knowing that their victory could be short-lived. If she killed them all now, then she could hold Faith for the next Blue Moon. The Queen had to be stopped here and now. If they failed now, then they only managed to delay the apocalypse, not stop it. 

"NO!" The Queen screamed in rage, and then leapt after the nearest target: Tara.

Tara had continued moving after Xander and had ended up only a few feet away from the Queen, who now had her in her grasp. Xander tried to stand and come to her defense but as he rose, met the foot of the Queen, which easily held him down on his face.

"Willow," the Queen said with a smile on her face that contrasted the fire in her eyes. "Hi honey! I have some terrible news for you…"

Willow could only stand there in shock, crying and shaking with fear and sadness.

"I'm really going to enjoy doing this…"

With that, she grabbed either side of Tara's head and twisted it violently, snapping her neck and killing her instantly. 

"No!" was all Willow could get out as she watched her lovers body fall limp to the ground. 

Suddenly Angel dashed from his spot and tackled the distracted Queen, having much more of an effect than Xander's tackle, sending the two of them flying across the floor in a wrestling match, each bent of revenge. 

***

Riley rushed into the ceremony room only to find no ceremony, and no vampires for that matter, except for the Queen and that Angel guy from that cell, locked in each others grips. Confused, he stood for a second and took in the room. The woman with the perfect body was still laying there on the table, still untouched and ready to be drank. There was a dead woman on the ground and the rest of those humans all just getting to their feet. It seemed like a perfect time to kill. 

"Riley!" came the chilling voice of the Queen from her fight. "Kill them for me! Be a god!"

Needing no other guidance or invitation Riley jumped to work and went after the old man and the little crying girl in the corner. He rushed with all his might, hoping to pin them into the corner and bite them while he crushed their bones against the stone walls, but just as he was about to crush them the girl yelled something he couldn't understand and Riley felt himself bounce off the air around them and fall back, dazed. He gathered himself and rushed in again, only to bounce again off. 

"Little witch," he growled. "Can't keep that up forever." 

The huge vampire of a beast called Riley started pounding away at the air protecting the old man, obviously wounded, and the little girl. He knew that if he could just hit it enough times the girl would fail and he could taste the blood he already smelt in the air. The girl seemed to affirm his plan as she screamed for help between pounds, knowing that he spell would soon fail and leave them helpless. 

Riley felt another presence moving towards him from behind and spun with his fist in time to meet the face of the dark-haired boy who had been on the ground near the Queen. He paused for a moment to watch as the boy fell unconscious across the floor. 

"I'll have a free drink later," he mumbled to himself before turning his attention back to the girl and the old man.

***

Faith had been completely shocked when she saw Xander rushing to her rescue from the corner of her eye and then felt a wave of relief and another of new fear wash over her when he stopped the sword from killing her. Now all she could do was listen and stare at the ceiling, still crying, just hoping that somehow she could die and get away from all this. That it could all just end. 

She could hear the voice of Willow screaming for help from somewhere off to her left and the shuffling and scraping of Buffy fighting with whoever she was. None of it seemed real though. It was all a dream. Part of that hazy quiet that comes just before someone dies. She was drifting away and this all seemed to be a dream. Her spirit was shattered. He heart was broken. She was a failure. She was dead.

Faith thought back again over what had brought her here, what made her like she was and how foolish it had been for her to keep hope alive all these months, hanging over a bottomless pit. The end was here. She was dead. Stop thinking and just die… _Why can't I just die!_

Suddenly Faith heard someone call her name. 

"Faith!"

It was Willow…

"Faith help!"

_How willow? You fool… I'm strapped to this table_.

Faith heard what seemed to be a soft shattering and a scream, again from Willow. 

"Faith… Eloquietim, shaukenti, Quenephom…"

Before Faith could wonder what the words meant she felt the shackles on her wrists and ankles fall away. She was free. For the first time in months, almost a year, she was free! 

Faith worked her head loose from it's bindings and looked up to see the vampire that had assaulted her earlier holding Willow by her neck up in the air, shaking her violently. Turning she saw, was that Angel? She saw Angel wrestling Buffy while both of them uttered profanities. 

"Faith!" came a new voice, this time Giles. He was on the floor with a deep wound in his side.

"Fight! Save us…" Giles yelled.

Fear again welled up in Faith, and she started crying again. She couldn't fight. She was weak, broken. She just wanted to die. Yes, she could die now. Looking down, Faith spotted Buffy's sword and reached for it. Now she could die…

"Faith!" came Giles voice again, demanding now. "Get up and be a Slayer! Fight. Save the World!"

Taken aback at Giles command Faith paused, looked back down at the sword and then rushed into action. Maybe this one deed would redeemer her. Maybe she could die a hero instead of a villain. Maybe she'd die anyway and finally be done with all this. In any case, she was the Slayer. She had to fight, fear and all. 

***

After her little spell had failed, Riley had grabbed the little girl by her neck and was ready to drink again. The old man, and the dark-haired boy could both wait. She was the biggest threat now and so, she died first. 

Without warning the big vampire man was sent flying into the wall, dropping the dazed girl to the ground, as he received a nasty kick to the back of his neck. Shaking his head and standing to face his assailant, Riley almost found himself laughing when he saw it was the naked woman. How she got out of her chains he didn't know, but she had just been bumped up to threat number one, and so now she was going to have to die. 

Lunging in at her with his fists Riley was once again surprised as she dodged him and landed and solid kick to him stomach as he slid past. She was fast. Time to play it smarter. 

Remembering the combat training he received in the military the blood-thirsty vampire settled himself a bit and started to fight, using technique and brains, coupled with his newfound strength and awareness. This woman was absurd, with every punch she was moving and dodging, she was inhuman. The two were fighting and spinning almost too fast for the eye to catch, but just slow enough that either one of them could, at any moment seem to get a block in. Each was landing a shot or two here and there, but neither was truly budging much. 

Riley felt his anger rising with each punch or kick she blocked. Nothing he could come up with was fast enough. So confused. This woman was breathing, he could hear her heart beating, but she seemed to fight with the strength of a vampire, or more. 

In his slight distraction of thought, Riley felt a punch land solidly on his face and send him stumbling backwards. When he looked up the naked woman was picking a stake from the floor. Riley rushed again at her, unafraid of a mere stake. He was a god. He was not going to fear a little, weak, naked woman, no matter how fast or strong she was. 

That was the last thought that Riley Finn, the demon, the vampire, would ever think. The woman jumped forwards just as Riley began his rush and threw the stake, which landed in his chest. A dry sensation, like all the liquid in him was rushing away ran through his body before everything disappeared into blackness. The demon was dead. 

***

Faith hadn't killed a vampire in a very, very long time. It was good to know she still had it in her, sorta. Up until today she knew but everything in this last twenty-four hours had turned her world upside-down. She was scared. She was tired. Nothing made sense, but at least the big nasty vampire was dead. The simple joys of being a Slayer never, ever match up to all the pains that come with the job.

Faith walked to Willow, who was still shaken and hurting on the ground. 

"You ok?" she asked softly.

"No," Willow replied crying. "but I am alive."

Faith started to help Willow to her feet but then paused in fear. She had heard the sound of rushing wind and smelt fresh dust on the air, a sign of the death of a vampire. Turning slowly around, a terrified Faith looked up and saw Buffy standing there on the table, sword in hand.

"Angel," Willow mumbled.

"…Is dead," Buffy continued, sounding annoyed. "It was about time I took care of that little nuisance."

The Queen stepped down from the table and walked towards the three in the corner, sword still in hand. 

"Time to die," Buffy said simply, causing Faith to start her crying again. 

"Faith!" Giles grunted. 

"Oh Giles," Buffy said, scolding. "Stop harassing the girl. You were always so difficult."

Something in Faith had died. Her spirit. Her will. Whatever anyone would wish to call it. It was dead. She couldn't find it in herself to stand, let alone to fight, or even to think. She just looked up into Buffy's eyes, looking for a sign that the end was near. 

Suddenly, Buffy cocked her head to one side and smiled. 

"New plan!" she almost chuckled. 

Taking the sword to her own shoulder, Buffy, the Queen, cut herself and then looked down at Faith, with a grin.

"Drink," she said, "and you can die."

Faith nodded softly and with that Buffy knelt and let the other Slayer drink. Shortly after Faith began, the Queen plunged her own teeth into her neck and began drinking until she felt the life slip away from her and her body start to go limp.

***

Xander was lost in the warmth of unconsciousness, swimming in his own thoughts and dreams; his body at rest for the first time in months and months. Oh, what a wonderful feeling to have a rest after such a long, long time without one. It was so peaceful.

He saw the days of high school in his head. He was there again, making jokes about ridiculous things, chasing after Buffy, or Cordelia, skipping as much class as he could get away with. The smells and sights of Sunnydale High; It all seemed so real in his head. What a wonderful place. Soft yellow painted walls, simple people, and simple demons and bad people to deal with. It all was so much simpler and happier. That was where he'd met Anya…

Anya… dreaming of her embrace. The smell of her hair. The way she smiled when she wanted to be kissed. The way she walked when she had a surprise for him. Her body was so soft against his at night. Her voice was so soothing, when she wasn't being absolutely shameless, but that was part of her charm. He could just stand there and stare at her image for hours and hours in his head…

And then the demon came. That vampire was invading his head. He was here too. He was dragging her away and biting her neck, making her perfect flesh bleed. 

_I'll kill you! I'll kill you! _

**_But the world… the world needs saving._**

Not again! No, it's not my turn. Not again… 

Xander, let her go! Let her die so the whole world can live. Don't you see how that's better?

No… not at all… 

**_Xander. Two minutes!_**

No, the world is nothing without her… 

YOU HAVE TO COME! TWO MINUTES.

"Go…"

The light rushed back into Xanders eyes and before he could even get them open all the way they were attacked by the image of Faith's body falling limp to the ground and Buffy's standing up. She wasn't looking at him. He could save the world. He could make it worth something.

"I think you're next Wil," he could hear the Queen say. 

Frantically Xander looked around for something, anything, to attack the Queen with and today, the Fates were smiling. Giles crossbow, still loaded with it's last dart, was within arms reach. Taking pains to be silent, Xander reached out and grabbed the crossbow and lifted it from the floor, turning it at the Queen. 

"Goodbye Wil," she said, taunting.

"_Goodbye Buffy_," Xander thought silently, and pulled the trigger.

The dart hit true and Xander watched as the Queen, the demon infesting Buffy's body turned and looked at him, in pain, shocked. Good. Anya is avenged. The world is safe for all it's stupidity to go on. We win.

And with that the Queen, the most feared of vampires, disappeared forever into dust, leaving her three friends, her three victims, alone. 

Xander stood slowly and walked over to Willow and Giles. 

"She drank…" Willow managed to sputter out, pointing at Faith's dead body. 

Xander took Buffy's fallen sword and silently chopped Faith's head off, making sure the demon wouldn't rise to plague them. This was the end of the Queen, or any version of her.

Xander helped the wounded Giles to his feet and the three started to move out of the room, to head to the surface, each burning with loss. 

"The world is safe," Giles whispered after a few steps.

Xander looked up at Giles and then over at Willow and sighed softly.

"Till next week…"

FIN

---***---

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

So after a long, long time, this story finally comes to a close. I don't think I've ever written anything that took me seven months to complete before. EVER. This project had a life of it's own and it seemed to decide when and how it wanted to be written. So I just went with the flow and wrote as I felt compelled. Hopefully everyone enjoyed it. If you didn't, tough luck. I did. And that's what's important. I loved writing this. So there…

I wanted to add some authors notes at the end cause I know that there are people out there who likely want to FLAME me badly for the ending of this story and there are some who are just downright curious as to why the heck I did what I did. I am a twisted person sometimes, but I do have my reasons for why certain things happened and how I developed the characters. 

The first thing that I did was (in case you didn't notice) pick three perspectives to write from and then explore their personalities in settings that Joss and the crew never could. The major character that I developed was Xander (my favorite) and then after him there was Riley Finn and Faith, both characters that I've always had mixed feelings about. In essence, I wanted to take their personalities somewhere that they really honestly could go, if given the right motivation. So I created the motivation and watched them change. Let me explain…

Xander is, on the show, ever loyal, ever trusting and willing to work. He does whatever it takes to make those around him happy, even at the expense of himself. So I imagined him in a world where he was thrust into leadership, where Buffy was gone and people were relying on him to be the hero. What I did was actually mirror Buffy in Xander, throughout the story. If you would remember, he was haunted and morbid, unable to sleep, eager for action and yet weary of this life of constant expectations. Sound like the Buffy of the last couple seasons? I actually think Joss wanted to end the series because he had taken Buffy to such a dark place that he couldn't find a way to redeem her without the show becoming ridiculously hokey. She really annoyed me the last two seasons. She was so morbid and tired, unwilling to change and rise above. So I took Xander to a similar place. The world is going to come to an end and here he is, in a position to try and help and haunted because it's going to mean killing Buffy, his dear friend. Not only that, he thinks he's gonna get everyone killed but doesn't see any other way to try. His emotions are raging back and forth and all he can do is blindly act. My favorite twist was killing Anya. I wanted to find a way to create the same situation that Buffy experienced with Angel (your Lover or the World?), which is really where I think Joss started the whole, dark/depressed Buffy. And then of course there was the last line, "Until next week." Here I was kinda poking fun at the show for having an apocalypse once every couple weeks and at the same time, kinda showing how Buffy has been trapped this whole time. She saves the world and loses her own soul, and no one knows it and next week she had to do it again. Ah, I enjoyed this story.

Riley was a little different. I wanted to make Anti-Riley. The perfect, hard-working, clean-cut, self-sacrificing Riley needed to be dethroned a little. I wanted to see evil Riley who was only concerned with himself, and while that took a little while to develop, I was happy with the outcome. Knocking him out every couple of pages was just cause I thought it was funny. No real reason. I coulda moved him without knocking him out all those times. I just liked whacking the guy in the head for some reason. Besides all that, I always wanted to write from the point of view of a vampire and explore what it feels like. Writing Riley's death was cool… But then writing addicted Riley, that was better. I got to play with the "why" of vampires for a while. Can you imagine your body and mind being at perfect peace, being powerful and clear-minded and then suddenly having that stripped away and clouded with hunger? No wonder they rush after blood like they do. It's like the drug they need to stay high. Always needing more to feel good, and always having this hunger to feel good must be terrible. Well, that's my take on it anyways. I thought it was clever… 

Faith, well… I never had a strong affection towards Faith. I don't know why. I've liked other characters that were jerks and hated everything around them. I think it was because I always knew that her character was terribly fake. She acted so strong and fearless because she was really emotionally empty and afraid that someone might find out she wasn't happy. It took Joss until he took her to Angel to explore that at all, and he only did one episode of it… A character that screwed up, and that real, needed more time devoted to her. So, taa-daa! A Faith that pees herself and cries. I know it wasn't very nice to kill her in the end but watch that episode of Angel. She woulda let Angel kill her if he had tried. I was just being true to her personality.

Angel was another personality I got to toy with. He's always able to bounce back and be strong again. He always knows the answer and has the wisdom for moment. He's like Giles, but he dresses in leather instead of tweed and he banged Buffy instead of Joyce. I just wanted to take him to the point of absolute despair and let him bounce back one more good time before I dusted him with the rest of the excess characters. 

As for Buffy, the Queen, whatever… she just facilitated all the fun. She's cooler than a depressed, "do I have to kill another one?" Slayer that we might have seen. I got to make her cruel and nasty and more or less do the same thing to her as I did to Riley. So yeah, that's about it about her.

As for killing Tara, yes I'm a Xander/Willow shipper but that's not why I did it. I wanted to leave the original scoobies alone at the end of it all. Not for any real reason, just cause I thought it would be cool. They're back to square one in Sunnydale. New beginnings are always an interesting way to end a story with. It leaves everyone reading thinking as to what's in store next.

Well, that's about all… Thanks to Zatrex, Lyle and Scott Timms for sticking with the story every step of the way. Hopefully you guys all enjoyed it. Scott, if you guess the ending of my next story after only the first part I'm gonna hafta kill you, so everyone else can enjoy the story and not have the ending ruined. Thanks again guys… you rock. 

To everyone else out there on FanFiction, thanks for reading my story! PLEASE REVIEW this for me. I want EVERYONE'S opinions. Tell your friends to come read this story and review it. Even if it's just to FLAME me… thanks again… 

~Saint


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